Junior High 1: Monday

Our first group of Junior High campers have arrived!! Woo-hoo!

They were all dropped off this morning, and promptly got settled into their cabins. We got everyone set up and ready to go, said goodbye to our parents and headed down to the gym to kick the week off!

When we all gathered together in the gym we started out by introducing our counselors and other staff members. The counselors also acted out short skits to explain the rules to everyone in an enjoyable and very entertaining/humorous way.

After introductions, everyone got split and mixed up into their teams for the week! Each team had to come up with a creative name to go by for the rest of the week, and the team name had to include an adverb and a mythical creature! We had a lot of interesting results, a few being "Simply Deerbra" and "Adorably Hydra." We seem to have some rather creative campers with us this week!

Our teams then got to know one another by playing some name games and fun challenges to get everyone warmed up and comfortable with each other.

Following some fun in the gym, everyone had their cabin pictures taken and went up the hill for a picnic lunch! We had sloppy joe's, mac & cheese, watermelon, grapes, cookies and chips all set up by our awesome cooks!

We sat around the camp eating with our cabins and enjoyed our yummy food and the amazing weather in camp community.

After lunch we all headed back to our cabins for cabin time and went over some basic cabin guidelines for the week, and relaxed on our beds to let our lunch settle.

Then the girls went to canoe and take their swim tests to ensure safety during swim time, while the boys went to do their Bible studies with their cabins. After that, the boys and girls switched!

We will be studying 1 John this week with our cabins, and will be interacting with the text by highlighting, underlining and coloring our booklets. Today our counselors talked through 1 John Chapter 1, and explained our theme for the summer, which is being "Alive" with Christ. Our counselors especially highlighted verse 1, which states "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life," by explaining to their campers some times in their life they have personally encountered God, and what that could look like.

After the counselors spent some time verbally proclaiming and testifying to the truth of 1 John chapter 1, the campers had some time to reflect on times they may have encountered God in similar ways.

Following swim tests canoeing and Bible study, it was time to enjoy free time around camp. This includes freedom to play GaGa, tether ball, corn hole, carpet ball, basketball, nine square, and more!

This week the campers will also be working on memorizing Bible verses for our famous game of Mêleé at the end of the week. To help with this memorization, there are coloring pages in their Bible study booklets to work on that have some of the verses on them.



After some free time around the camp, it was time to head inside the Dining Hall for some delicious dinner!









Following dinner, we gathered together for our All Camp Game of Four-Way Capture the Flag!

After a great few rounds of capture the flag, we all headed to the chapel for worship and a lesson taught by Josh Rockey!

Following a great lesson and worship, we will get to gather around the campfire for a snack and then we'll head off to bed!

We have had a great start to our week, and we are so excited to see God move in amazing ways! We are praying our campers will walk away from this week with a deeper understanding of who God is, and how they can live their lives with Him. Here's to the start of a new week!!